GoodFestival: The Power of Eight
Stripping away race, gender, religion, nationality and wealth, we are left with the naked truth about two types of people in this world: those who want to actively better society and participate in random acts of kindness, let's call them Group One, and those with the resources to help them do it, Group Two.
But what happens when a small selection of Group One pool together their ideas and limited time? Well that is the story of GoodFestival - from random acts of kindness to structured acts of greatness.
With a core team of eight, today we have the chance to incorporate multiple ideas and opinions to shape the GoodFestival into what it will be tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
It all began when the City of Lausanne chose to trust a young family of three (an American, French and an Indian) to create an international event and a global digital platform bringing together Innovators building a better world. GoodFestival welcomes all levels of businesses whether they have just started or are established, for profit or not for profit, local or global scale. What matters most, and what lies at the very heart of GoodFestival is that these projects promote sustainability in any of the following eight categories: education, water, nutrition, health, habitat, energy, environment and the arts. It seems that eight is magic number - eight categories, eight core team members!
Within a small team of eight, seven nationalities came together to participate in, or deliver, at least one of the past two GoodFestival events while managing a community of over 340,000. As you can expect, each member has a strong opinion and volunteers their time every day to support Innovators from around the world in scaling up, crafting partnerships, raising funds and telling their stories.
Created, launched and grown in nine short months, the GoodFestival is on its way to great things. With the support of mySwitzerland, Vaud SPECo, Lausanne City, Lufthansa and over 20 other organizations, GoodFestival has become the world’s biggest celebration of sustainable innovation. Bringing together 100s of Innovators seeking collaboration, partnerships, and growth from around the world, GoodFestival convenes twice a year (April and October) at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. With two events under their belt, the 3rd edition is scheduled to take place between the 17th and 21st of October 2017.
Why do they do this? Because they want to see Good spread around the world. Because they were supported by incredible individuals and organizations who believed in them. Now? They are giving back.
This story was previously published on GoodPowWow.